Posted on by Anne Sandler · 45 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge# 366: City Mouse/Country Mouse

Yikes, there’s a mouse in the house! No, not really, but we did have “super rat” once when we lived in Antelope. But you don’t want to hear that story. This blog post is not about mice, but about Sacramento City and our neighboring countryside. Actually it takes me about the same time to get to either from my home in Citrus Heights.

Tina challenges us, this week, to show the differences between a city and a countryside.

Let’s see Sacramento City first. Being the California Capital, Sacramento has been growing during the past years. We have more tall buildings (not skyscrapers) and restaurants drawing in city, county and state workers. Some of our downtown restaurants have been awarded a Michelin Star rating! Not bad for a former “cow town.” Most of our newer buildings are built so the glass windows show reflections.

I’ve posted about Sacramento’s annual mural festival. My examples are very different. Left is a building painted in a “tagging” style and on the right, a rather large image of Johnny Cash.

And last, there’s the Old Sacramento nightlife. This was taken from the Tower Bridge,

Now for our countryside, where I’m sure many mice live. But, we do have to cross over into Yolo County. These were taken on many different outings my photo group went on. It’s fun getting lost in the countryside when all roads are named County Road XX. Oh the stories I could tell, and not about mice. But the result is worth the extra gas.

If I had to choose, I would choose to live where I do–in the suburbs. After all, either the city or the country are 20 – 30 minutes away. Thanks Tina helping me find that I’m happy right where I am. Please link to her post when you respond to her challenge and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Last week Egidio taught us a new Portuguese word, Saudade, meaning longing. I had a lot of fun reading about your thoughts and seeing your images. Next week, guest host Joanne of Joanne Mason Photography will be challenging us. Stay tuned!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 22 Comments

Lens Artists Challenge #248: Mood

Boy, have I been in a mood lately! And It’s not a good one! Why? It’s because my computer has been down and out for about a week. No blogs, no working on pictures, no…. Fortunately, I was able to keep up with your postings on my laptop, but it doesn’t have my pictures or editing software on it.

The tech guy is about to leave and I’m already working out my mood by doing this blog post.

When I first read Sofia’s challenge, I wondered do we as photographers create the mood in a photo or does a photo give us the mood. How much is up for interpretation? What feelings do we put into the photo? Will others see it the same way as we do?

I can tell you it’s been my experience that two photographers can photograph the same scene and the pictures will come out different. Two people can look at the same image and get different stories and feelings from it.

So, here’s a brief look at some moods. Some I create like when I’m feeling blue and down, I take myself and my macro lens to Green Acres Nursery for a pick me up.

Tension eases when I photograph flowers. When I process them, my mood is relaxed. The flowers help me create that mood.

Nothing beats the excitement of doing something you are challenged at. My limit of a 300 mm lens and my lack of speed and fine motor coordination makes wildlife photography a challenge. On a typical outing, I usually come home with a few good images. The mood? Exhilaration and happiness.

When I look at these animals, I sense their need for survival and curiosity at the humans behind the lens.

There’s another type of excitement–having fun. You all know how much I enjoy doing slow shutter photography, especially at night. We were out to capture Old Sacramento at night and the ferris wheel just added to the fun.

The action and colors of the ferris wheel are exciting and photographing it is challenging.

And lastly, there is the amazement of the unexpected. My moment of amazement happened when I woke up one morning at my son’s home in Reno NV and saw a snowy landscape like I’ve never seen before. I was truly excited and in awe of the beauty before me. Mother Nature did her very best the night before. Never mind that three men had to dig us out!

I think I may have turned Sofia’s wonderful challenge around, but that’s the way it affected me. Even challenges are subjective! If you haven’t posted your response yet, please remember to link to Sofia’s original post and tag Lens-Artists. I truly enjoyed your back lighting responses to Ann-Christine’s challenge last week. Next week, it’s John’s turn to challenge us. So look for his post. In the meantime stay safe!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 43 Comments

Lens-Artists Challenge #186: Low Light

I like standard time during the winter months because it means the sun sets early making photographing in the dark more feasible, getting me home early in the evening. Thank you Sofia for offering this challenge that fits perfectly with a recent visit to Old Sacramento.

My small group of senior photographers visited the waterfront last month to capture the new Ferris Wheel installed as an attraction to draw more visitors.

When we arrived, we came upon a guy break dancing. He kept on performing as darkness fell and his jar filled with dollar bills.

We then walked out on the Tower Bridge (A Sacramento landmark) to capture the Ferris Wheel and waterfront. I’ll be honest, we did not use tripods (which is suggested in low-light photography). As the cars went over the bridge, the resulting rumble would have made the tripods useless.

Tower Bridge

We then walked back to the waterfront to get a better view of the Ferris wheel.

While we were photographing the wheel, the sun had almost set. I ran to a vantage point and fortunately got a decent sunset and reflections.

Now, back to the bridge for the Ferris wheel in action after nightfall.

As we were walking up to the street, I was lucky to see this image: A restaurant with the Ferris wheel reflected in the window. I couldn’t resist photographing it.

I had so much fun this evening which included a cup of hot chocolate. Low-light photography presents challenges but the rewards are great. I’ve also enjoyed light painting and indoor photography.

Thank you Sofia for this fun challenge that fit perfectly with my photo activities. Please be sure to link your post to Sofia’s, and use the Lens-Artists tag. Next week I’ll be presenting the challenge.